SOURCE: A review of The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, in New Statesman and Society, August 28, 1992, pp. 34-5.

[In the following review, Whiteside provides a brief explanation of the literary background of The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis—particularly regarding the life and work of Fernando Pessoa—and finally considers the novel an "impressive intellectual achievement," although overly cerebral.]

This large novel [The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis], by Portugal'ss greatest living writer, comes with a number of provisos. According to the author, it might be fully appreciated only by someone Portuguese. For the translator, it requires a thorough knowledge of Portugal's history and culture from the days of empire to the beginning of Salazar's dictatorship in 1938. Lastly, it presupposes an intimate knowledge of the work of Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935), the writer who, according to his translator...